Namdevco ordered to open Macoya wholesale market no later than 5.30 am

The National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco) has been ordered by the Court of Appeal to open the gates to the Norris Deonarine Northern Wholesale Market in Macoya no later than 5.30 am and open the market for business at the same time.

The order was given in an appeal by Namdevco against the orders of a judge who granted several injunctions and ordered compensation for a resident who lives on the Macoya Road Extension, which leads to the market.

In their ruling, Justices of Appeal Allan Mendonca, Peter Jamadar and Prakash Moosai also ordered Namdevco to place and maintain No Parking/No Waiting signs in the vicinity to the entrance of the market and provide a minimum of two uniformed police officers during the market’s business hours to regulate and control the flow of traffic along the Macoya Road Extension, unless it is not possible for reasons beyond the corporation’s control.

The judges, who modified the original injunction granted by the judge in 2015, also gave Namdevco the liberty to apply to a judge of the High Court to modify or discharge any of the injunctions they have imposed.

The High Court’s original injunctions prevented Namdevco from blocking the roadway, permitting the conducting of market sales in the environs of the market and keeping the Macoya Road Extension free from obstruction. The first instance judge had also found Namdevco to be liable for public nuisance and held that the body, under the Namdevco Act and Regulations, had a statutory duty to remove nuisances and obstruction from the wholesale market.

The appellate court judges did not interfere with the award of $65,000 in compensation to Davindra Maharaj as it was no longer challenged by Namdevco’s lawyers at the appeal.

Maharaj had argued that he and other residents were inconvenienced by the operations outside the market before it opened, and they were denied access to their homes.

“Efficient operation dictates that Namdevco do all that is reasonably within its remit to limit nuisances occasioned to that which could be strictly classified as unavoidable in the context of a wholesale market’s operations,” Moosai said in the judgment.

He added that it could not be a reasonable conclusion that Parliament, in authorising the establishment and operation of wholesale markets, would have contemplated such an absolute suppression of private rights occasioned by the type of nuisance Maharaj complained of.

Maharaj was represented by Lennox Sanguinette while Russell Martineau,SC, appeared for Namdevco.